The night stretched endlessly, thick with silence and the weight of unspoken truths. It was the kind of darkness that seemed to breathe, pressing down on the walls and on Ahce's chest until she could barely tell where her thoughts ended and the shadows began.
She lay curled on the narrow couch beside his hospital bed, her body tense and weary. The steady rhythm of the monitor's beeping carved through the silence, each pulse a reminder that life still lingered, fragile, suspended. Her eyes followed the blank expanse of the ceiling, searching for answers that refused to take shape.
She didn't belong here. At least, that was what her mind kept whispering. Yet beneath the resistance, another voice spoke, quieter, but far more convincing.
You are his wife. It is only right to be here.
And she hated that the voice made sense.
Earlier that evening, Ahce had forced herself to confront the truth. The Marriage Bureau's records were mercilessly clear. There had been no mistake, no forged document, no administrative oversight to save her from this reality.
The marriage was legal, signed, and binding. The date matched, the signatures genuine, hers and Richard's. When she had seen it in black ink, her heart had hollowed out like a house stripped bare after a storm.
She barely remembered that night, the book signing event blurred by alcohol, laughter, and exhaustion. Logic had dulled, and reason had drowned beneath whatever storm she had been trying to silence inside herself. Somewhere in that haze, she had signed. Somewhere in that blur, her life had changed.
But did Richard know? Had he realized that she had been cornered, pressured by family, peers, and the tantamount expectations that clung to her like chains? The world had reminded her at every turn that a woman of her standing had obligations, not dreams. That her worth had an expiration date.
Over the years, that pressure had become unbearable. Every family dinner, every subtle smile from an elder, every remark wrapped in feigned concern, all of it carved at her will. And with that came the shadows. Men who saw her not as a woman, but as an opportunity. Their eyes lingered too long, their offers too polished, their smiles too sharp.
Sometimes the danger came quietly, messages from unknown numbers, calls at midnight, veiled threats delivered under the guise of proposals. Other times, it was bolder, an unwanted touch, a whispered promise that felt like a trap.
Ahce knew what they truly wanted. She was not merely herself. She was the heir. The only child of a powerful lineage, the one who held the keys to properties, companies, and lands that stretched far beyond her reach. To them, she was not a person but a prize, wealth wrapped in fragile skin.
And now, lying here beside him, she wondered if Richard, her supposed husband, was her shield or her cage. The man who might save her, or the chain she had clasped around her own neck.
Her thoughts frayed at the edges, unraveling like loose threads. To keep herself sane, she made a silent vow.
When he wakes up, we will have rules. Boundaries. Terms.This would not be a marriage of love or chaos. It would be a contract, structured and safe.
That promise became her anchor as the night deepened. The machine's beeping turned rhythmic, almost soothing. The air conditioner's hum became a tide lapping distantly against unseen shores. Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut, and sleep claimed her.
-
The dream came suddenly, vivid, too real to be just a dream.
She was standing in the park near her home, where the trees bent toward the horizon and the air smelled of damp soil and twilight. The sunlight was soft, golden, like the last warmth before dusk. But beneath the beauty was unease, a sense of waiting, of unfinished stories.
Why am I dreaming about this?
Why am I here?
Then, arms circled her waist from behind, firm, familiar, and heartbreakingly tender. A chest pressed to her back, a breath ghosted along her ear. She couldn't move. She couldn't turn. She only felt.
Who is this person?
Why is he hugging me?
"Boss, I love you," a low voice murmured against her skin, the words thick with the haze of drink and unspoken longing.
That voice...
Her breath caught.
Boss?
That strange endearment again, one that had begun to haunt her waking hours.
"I love you the most, Boss," the voice continued, softer now, heavy with sorrow. "But it's not yet time. I cannot choose you yet."
The words echoed, hollow and foreboding.
Not yet time...
What do you mean?
And then the dream dissolved, light and air and sound collapsing into darkness.
-
Ahce's eyes snapped open.
The room was still drenched in the night. The beeping persisted, calm and cruel. Richard's silhouette remained unmoving, outlined by the faint glow of the monitors. The clock on the wall blinked 3:00 a.m.
Her palms were damp. Her pulse, unsteady. Was it a memory, clawing its way back from the depths? Or was it merely her mind, reshaping longing into illusion?
She lay there, staring at the ceiling once more, but this time the silence felt alive, not empty, but waiting.
To drive away the questions, she reached for her phone. The screen's glow painted her face in cold light as she swiped aimlessly through games, the artificial sounds filling the void. Sleep would not return. So she played until dawn began to filter through the blinds.
When she finally set the phone aside, her gaze drifted toward the bed.
Richard lay still, his face softened by the morning light. He looked peaceful, deceptively so. The faint furrow between his brows betrayed a deeper unrest, a storm hidden beneath the calm. Even in unconsciousness, he bore the weight of something unseen.
Ahce sat up slowly, her heart tightening.
What are you fighting, Richard?
And why do I feel as if I already know?
Then, without warning, his eyelashes flickered. His lips parted. And his eyes opened.
Confusion clouded them for a fleeting heartbeat, but then his gaze locked on hers, sharp, deliberate, and aware.
He's finally awake.
For that moment, time forgot to move. The hum of the machines, the footsteps of nurses in the corridor, even the faint ticking of the clock, all faded into nothing.
It was just the two of them, bound by silence and something far older than memory.
His eyes, steady, dark, and searching, seemed to know her. Not as the woman by his bedside, but as someone he had already loved and lost somewhere beyond the edge of dreams.
His eyes...